


Gifts

by sarahxxxlovey



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Eleven and Mike Wheeler are Cute, F/M, Good Sibling Nancy Wheeler, Mileven, Mistletoe, Nancy Wheeler-Centric, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 08:23:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13096200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahxxxlovey/pseuds/sarahxxxlovey
Summary: Nancy learns quickly that Jonathan and Mike are similarly inept at Christmas shopping, but don't worry - they get it right in the end. Post Stranger Things 2 Christmas moments.





	Gifts

“Hey, Nance?” Jonathan said suddenly from the driver’s seat of his rusted car.

The pair had found themselves spending large amounts of time in this vehicle. They ate lunch on the hood nearly every day, trading chips and talking about nothing. Sometimes she brought him an extra sandwich. The car was a part of the beginning and end of her school day; he picked her up before school and took her home when the last bell rang. They drove this car to dates, seeing the latest crummy movie and usually spending some time in the back row and then back seat before he dropped her back off at home.

That, however, was not what was on her mind in the current moment.

“Yeah?” she answered distractedly, engulfed in the thick text book full of material for tomorrow’s physics’ test.

“What do you want for Christmas?” he asked nervously, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel in front of him. Her eyebrows rose with surprise as her head slowly turned to him.

It felt mean sometimes, giggling at him, but he was so adorable and clueless in certain moments that the laughter bubbled up inside her and came out before she could control it.

“You mean you haven’t gotten me a present yet?” she teased, somehow not shocked that she was more prepared than he was. She’d finished her Christmas shopping weeks ago. He blushed and took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at her before smiling when he saw the teasing look in her eye.

“Noooo,” he drew out the word, mimicking her tone.

“What about another mixtape?” she suggested. He rolled his eyes in response.

“I can’t get you the same thing I get my kid brother,” he replied shortly.

“What about a nice pink sweater?” she said, closing the textbook in her lap and turning slightly towards him, enunciating her words mockingly.

“I don’t know the first thing about sweaters,” he admitted, “but I do know that you already have more than you could wear in a year.”

“That’s a slight exaggeration,” she replied, absentmindedly wondering how many days she could wear sweaters in a row before she had to repeat one.

“Whatever,” he said with a small smile.

“I honestly don’t want a whole lot,” she said, watching his profile as he turned onto the court, moving down towards her house at the end of the cul-de-sac.

“There’s nothing you want?” he said, raising his eyebrows as he put the car in park.

“Well,” she teased, leaning in closer to him, “I could use a goodbye kiss.”

He smiled and kissed her softly before letting her get out and watching to make sure she got into the house safely.

* * *

“Well it’s hard, Nancy! I have to get her something by next week when everyone comes over for Mom’s stupid Christmas thing and I don’t know what to get!”

Mike was beside himself today, bugging his older and wiser sister about what to get his newly minted girlfriend El as a Christmas gift. Nancy had been trying to make herself lunch, enjoying her relaxing Saturday afternoon, when her younger brother bombarded her with questions about good gifts to get for thirteen-year-old girls. He was sat backwards on one of the kitchen chairs while she placed the lettuce and sliced turkey on her wheat bread.

“You know, Jonathan’s been having the same problem,” she laughed. “He asked me what I wanted the other day.”

“And what did you say?” Mike leaned forward in his seat, hanging onto her every word.

“I didn’t,” she said, rolling her eyes and giving him a look to tell him to cool it.

“I don’t know what to get her,” he groaned. “It has to be… special. And meaningful!”

“Honestly, Mike,” she said shortly, turning to him with the mayonnaise knife in her hand, “She lives with Hop. She grew up in a lab. She’s probably never had a real Christmas! She won’t know the difference.”

His eyes went wide at her words and he hopped up in victory, punching the air with his fist.

“I’ll get her a Christmas tree! And ornaments and lights! It’ll be perfect!” he exclaimed, running out of the room and up the stairs two at a time.

“You’re welcome!” she called to him exasperatedly.

“Thanks, Nancy!” she heard from upstairs.

She couldn’t help but smile as she leaned against the counter and took the first bite of her sandwich.

* * *

“I still don’t know what to get you!” Jonathan exclaimed as he walked her to the door after their date at the movie theater. Her lips were still swollen and her cheeks flushed, but she felt happier than she had in a long time. They were off of school finally and Hawkins had their first snow of the year and it set the whole town in a Christmas flurry, covering the trees with romantic white caps and making everything move in slow motion.

“What is it with boys?” she asked, astonished that he still hadn’t done his shopping, “Are you all just clueless?”

They stood on the porch, their hands in their coat pockets while trying to simultaneously fend off the cold and their parting.

“Yes,” Jonathan replied shortly as he shivered from the cold and rolled his eyes, “Not my fault that you have everything.”

“I don’t have…” she tried to think of something that she wanted and didn’t have, “Okay, I get it. I have everything I need.”

He reached forward and put his hands in her pockets, pulling her closer. She smiled shyly and looked up at his face, her family’s Christmas lights tinging his hair with blue and red light as he looked down at her lovingly. His family hadn't put up Christmas lights this year. She sighed at the thought of not getting to see him tomorrow, the worry crossing her face before she had time to hide it.

“Are you going to be okay at Barb’s?” he asked hesitantly. He was going with his mom to take Will to a follow up appointment with a psychiatrist tomorrow. Unfortunate timing, but probably for the best in the long run. She needed to deal with this by herself. 

“I’ll be okay,” she replied sadly, holding onto his fingers in her pockets, “It’s hard… but it’s for the best. They know part of the truth now and that should make it easier.”

“You sure?” he asked concernedly.

She nodded sadly and he took her face in his hands, kissing her soundly and chasing her worries away.

* * *

 

"Nancy!" Karen Wheeler called from the kitchen, "It's for you!"

Nancy rushed to the phone in her room and pulled the receiver up to her ear. 

"Thanks, Mom," she said sweetly into the phone, staying silent until she heard the click. 

"Hey," Jonathan's voice sounded on the other end. Nancy had bought them a new phone to replace the one she'd broken and Nancy wondered if that was where he was calling from. 

"Hi," she breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice and laid back on her bed against the pillows. 

"Just wanted to check how today was," he said softly. 

"It was...," she decided not to lie, "awful. They kept showing me all these baby pictures of Barb. And I felt so bad after that I went to her grave for the first time since the funeral and cried for about a million years."

"Shit, Nance," he sighed, "Do you want me to come over? I just got home." That answered her question.

"I'm okay now, really," she said, turning onto her stomach and trying to change the subject, "Did the appointment go okay?"

"Yeah, it was fine. Uneventful," he laughed darkly. Uneventful was good news at this point in their lives. 

"That's good!" she replied, her voice more cheerful with each word he spoke. He told her a few more of the specifics, like the treatment plan that they were recommending and how his mom had unleashed some fury on one of the rude technicians that helped with Will's assessment. Then he went silent, like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Out with it," Nancy urged sternly. 

"I... I'm proud of you, Nance," he said, the tenderness in his voice gripping her heart, "Visiting Barb... that's a big step."

She glowed at his words as she wrapped and unwrapped the cord of the phone around her finger. It was a big step, one she'd put off for a while, not knowing if she had the strength to face it by herself, wanting to fall back onto the patterns of not thinking about it and letting it slip further out of sight and out of mind. She still felt sometimes like she was the reason that her best friend was dead. Visiting her best friend's grave did nothing to help the matter. 

"Thanks, Jonathan," she said softly.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked shyly.

"Yes," she replied, "And the day after that is the party."

"Ah, yes," he chuckled, "The party. My favorite."

"I know, I'm sorry it's the worst," she said.  

"It's okay, really," he replied.

"All right, well I'll see you," she said, hating to go but knowing that he should probably spend some time with his family after a day like today, "Thanks for calling. That was really sweet of you."

She could practically feel him blushing through the phone.

"Bye, Nancy," he said with a click of the phone.

Nancy turned onto her back and stared at the picture of Barb on her wall, sighing and hugging her pillow.

* * *

Nancy had stolen Jonathan away for a moment alone when he and Will had come to the house early for the Karen Wheeler Christmas Extravaganza. They were bound to have only a few minutes before her mom yelled that Nancy needed to pour glasses of champagne and rearrange the cookies for the impending guests.

Memories of this time last year echoed in her head as they sat on the couch by the Christmas tree. In her minds memory, she saw him move upstairs from the basement and take her gift in his hands, a camera to replace the one that Steve had broken. It was different this year, being able to sneak a kiss under the mistletoe while her parents prepared cocktail weenies in the other room. This year felt deeper, more meaningful. She cringed at the word in her head, but decided that it fit nonetheless.

Jonathan had opened his gift, a box of various new types of film for his camera, a stack of cassettes, some blank and some from his favorite artists, and a pocket knife embossed with his initials.

“I thought it might be fun to try some different film,” she explained, having realized that he only ever bought the cheapest one and that he’d probably appreciate some of the more specialized kinds. “They’re supposed to make different style photos.”

“Cool!” he said happily, grinning down at the box.

“Maybe you can even take some of me,” she said teasingly, her voice lower than before, leaning into him.

“That sounds nice,” he said, his eyes softening as he bit his lip to hide his smile.

“But don’t get any ideas with that pocket knife, mister,” she said playfully, tracing the scar on his palm, “This is as rugged as you need to get for me.”

He laughed and reached for her gift from the table, placing it in her lap. He looked nervous to give it to her, his hand going under his chin as he leaned against his knee and watched her curiously. The small box was wrapped in newspaper and she laughed at the huge red bow that nearly engulfed its entire top.

“Nice touch,” she giggled. He smiled back nervously, watching her intently as she unwrapped it to find a white square box about as long and wide as her hand. She looked at him and smiled reassuringly, hoping to ease a little portion of his nerves.

She opened the box to see a small, delicate bracelet hidden inside. It was made of shiny gold metal and had red stones around its entirety. Something in the back of her mind told her it was a tennis bracelet.

“This is so sweet, Jonathan!” she said in surprise. Whatever she had been expecting, this was not it. It looked expensive, the kind of thing he would have had to save up for.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered as he blushed.

“It’s not nothing,” she said earnestly, putting her hand on top of his as she looked down at the shiny piece of jewelry sitting on the padded underside of the box, “This is beautiful!”

“It’s garnet,” he said quietly, trying to hide his smile and smoothing his hair down, “It’s supposed to represent courage.”

“Courage?”

“I… I wanted to get you something special,” he said slowly, the words echoing Mike’s in her head, “And something that was… you’ve always had more courage than you think. Hopefully… I just thought this would remind you of how strong you are and how you make me stronger too.”

She looked up at him, willing the newly sprung tears to dissipate from her eyes. She shook her head quickly and the clouds in her eyes clear.

“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t like it,” he clarified sheepishly. She glared at him.

“It’s beautiful, Jonathan. I love it,” she said, wiping her face hastily, getting excited at the thought of how special this was, “Put it on me.”

She held out her thin wrist and he fastened the bracelet on, looking down at it proudly as he moved the clasp to be invisible.

“You didn’t have to do this,” she said unsurely, the look of something so extravagant on her wrist making her hesitant about accepting it. She twisted her arm back and forth as it sparkled in the light of the tree.

“It’s nothing,” he repeated, holding her hand.

“Stop saying that!” she exclaimed, “It’s not nothing.”

“You know, maybe it’ll remind you not to retreat so much,” he teased. She bit back a smile and admired the bracelet again.

“Maybe it’ll always remind me of how good of a shot I am,” she dished back.

“Better than me and Hop combined probably.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she said with false modesty.

“Well, I’m glad you like it,” Jonathan said, grinning and holding her hand, moving it back and forth to watch it sparkle as she had a few moments ago, “It even matches your dress.”

“You’re the best,” she said happily, kissing his cheek, “Seriously.”

* * *

An hour later and the party was in fully swing. Joyce and Hopper were there (having snuck El into the basement with the boys who were going through Mike’s “Christmas Campaign”), plus all the neighbors and the Sinclairs and some people her dad worked with and her aunt and uncle and what felt like a billion other people. Hopper looked just as uncomfortable as Jonathan did. Clearly, social events were not their favorite outings. Nancy wondered if it was because Eleven was out of the house and out of his sight or if he just truly couldn't deal with this many annoying people in his radius. Joyce looked happy though, nervously fluttering around from mom to mom, hoping to get back into their good graces.

The boys had snuck upstairs to grab Christmas cookies before retreating back to their game, but she pulled Mike’s arm towards her and Jonathan’s dark corner before he had the chance to chase his friends back down to the basement.  

“Did you give her the gift?” she asked quietly, her hand still resting on his arm as he stood in front of them.

“Yeah,” he replied excitedly, “She loved it. I got her a snow globe with her name on it from the mall, too. She hasn’t stopped shaking it and twisting the bottom to make it sing.”

“What’s the song on it?” she asked curiously.

“I don’t know, Jingle Bells or something?” Mike guessed with a confused look on his face, seemingly offended that anyone would ask him that question. Nancy had to laugh.

“Okay, well I’m glad she liked it,” she said earnestly.

“What’d you end up getting her?” Mike asked point blank as if suddenly noticing Jonathan again, gesturing his head in Nancy's direction as clarification when Jonathan looked confused. 

“This,” Nancy said proudly as she held her wrist out for Mike to see, grinning at Jonathan and kissing his cheek quickly.

“Wow,” Mike whistled lowly. Jonathan blushed but his embarrassment was over soon as there were calls from the basement, sending Mike walking backwards towards the stairs, “Bye! Duty calls!” He rushed down, taking the stairs two steps at a time and slamming the door behind him.

Mike’s absence left Jonathan and Nancy alone again in a party full of adults. She wished they could sneak off into the living room and cuddle in her dad’s recliner while watching Christmas movies, but Karen had already yelled at her once that day and she didn’t really feel like getting yelled at a second time too, especially not for making out with her boyfriend. She looked around the room for something to do.

“How much would I have to pay you to go sneak me a glass of punch?” she whispered in Jonathan’s ear as she pointed to the bowl of alcohol on the other side of the room. His hand was warm at the small of her back and she couldn’t help but lean into it a little bit.

“Need I remind you of Halloween?” Jonathan laughed, “There’s not enough money in the world.”

She gave him a playful shove and braced herself as her mom walked over.

“Jonathan, sweetie, you doing all right? Nancy?” Karen said, putting on her best Stepford smile and offering up a plate of stuffed mushrooms.

“Fine, Mom,” Nancy said pointedly, her voice shorter and snappier than she had meant it to come out. She grimaced slightly at how rude she sounded but found that the bitterness still remained.

“Thanks, Mrs. Wheeler,” Jonathan said as he sheepishly took one of the appetizers to appease the matriarch, holding it up in mock cheers before taking a tentative bite, “It’s delicious.”

Karen glowed, patting him on the shoulder before walking to the next unassuming guests.

“That’s gross,” Jonathan said once she had left, spitting the food into his cocktail napkin with a look of disgust on his face as he shook his head, “Don’t eat that.”

Nancy had to stifle the laughter that bubbled up inside her, turning to the wall so that no one would notice her.

“Let’s go somewhere,” Jonathan said shyly, wishing to be anywhere but here. Nancy sighed and moved to adjust his tie, the excuse of touching him and getting closer to him sending the physical reminder of his opinion of her strength to glitter on her wrist. She looked down at the piece of jewelry and was struck again with how pretty it was. She wondered how much he had saved up for it and then immediately felt bad for wondering.

Instead, she looked back up at him and gripped his tie with both hands. It hadn't been the easiest of adjustments for them at first, dealing with two funerals and Joyce being upset nearly all the time took a lot of mental energy out of Jonathan. Despite all this, he was here, next to her because it was the right thing to do. He was here, giving her thoughtful, amazing, meaningful presents.

“Thanks for being here,” she said honestly, looking him in the eye again, “I don’t you don’t exactly love parties.”

“Understatement,” he said quietly, smiling.

“But I appreciate it,” she insisted, “and I’m sure your mom will love that you ate her gross food.”

“It’s all right,” he said, smiling at her appreciate, “Small price to pay.”

"You're... amazing, Jonathan," she said honestly as he blushed, "and so caring. I wish I could be like that sometimes."

"You are like that, Nancy," he replied, his hand over hers on his chest, his voice taking that tender tone again, the one he saved for her.

"I'm really glad you came," she said again, tugging on his tie playfully in an attempt to break the super serious mood they were about to get into in front of nearly everyone she knew. 

"Me too," he said sheepishly, watching her hands as she ran them down the buttons of his shirt under the tie. 

“What do you say we… sneak out to the back porch and find some mistletoe?” she said mischievously, loving the way his eyes sparkled at her words. She would never get over how he looked at her, full of love and wonder and awe that she was asking him to ditch a party to go make out outside. She pulled his hand along with her and hoping no one noticed them slip out of the party.

“Nancy Wheeler, you’re so going on the naughty list,” he whispered from behind her as he followed her through the living room. She turned to look at him, walking backwards for a moment and was greeted with a mile-wide grin.

“It’s more fun there anyways,” she laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Addicted to these sweethearts and their awkward, adorable love. 
> 
> Also, if you have any sort of requests for cute One-Shots for Jonathan and Nancy please comment down below! I'm always looking for some ideas.


End file.
